


Though The World Burns

by poisonousmidnight



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: M/M, Other, brain gets what he deserves part 2, non-binary midnight, oracion seis being a family, rating/warnings subject to change later on, the future that could have been, the world is ending basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 16:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonousmidnight/pseuds/poisonousmidnight
Summary: July 7, X791.A swarm of more than 10,000 dragons attacked the country. The world is on fire. Many lives are being lost. And the Oracion Seis are just trying to figure out how to survive.





	Though The World Burns

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So basically I’m just eternally fascinated by the future that wasn’t and I love the Oracion Seis to death so why not combine the two right? I’m also on a mission to convert more people to MidCo, that’s definitely an ulterior motive to this. Hopefully updates will be somewhat timely, I’m going to try my best! 
> 
> (Also a small note regarding Midnight before ya’ll jump into it: I use they/them pronouns for Mid, and I headcanon them continuing to use ‘Midnight’ in place of their birthname, because non-binary Mid is my lifeblood. Okay you may continue now! Enjoy!)

July 7, X791. 

The entire prison was in chaos. Yelling, there was so much yelling. The building itself shook from the force of whatever was taking place outside the fortified walls, and none of the guards seemed to care about anything but saving their own skins. 

“Oi! What the hell is going on?” Cobra yelled for the umpteenth time at a passing guard. He was extremely irritated and on edge, because whatever was going on was obviously a matter of life or death and he sure as hell wasn’t going to spend his last moments in this cramped, isolated cell. 

One of the frog-like guards finally stopped for a moment to glance over at the former dark guild member, fear evident in his eyes. “We’re doomed,” he whispered hoarsely. “We’re doomed, nowhere is safe…”

“Okay well stop speakin’ gibberish and let me out,” Cobra growled, even more irritated at the vague answer. “And then you can continue running for your life from whatever the fuck is happening out there.” As he finished speaking an explosion rocked the building, and both Cobra and the guard stumbled to try and keep their balance. The guard hesitated for a moment, indecision crossing his face. Another explosion outside, further away this time but accompanied by an earth-shattering roar. The guard finally gave in, ripping his keys from his belt and throwing them towards the cell, not wasting a second in continuing his escape. 

Cobra scrambled to grab the ring of keys, which landed just close enough for him to grab through the bars of the cell. His hands shook with a mix of excitement and fear as he fumbled through the keys to find the one that unlocked his cell. Seven years locked up down here and he was finally getting out, and he was finally going to see the rest of his guild again, but what was the cost…? 

He let himself give a small victory cheer when the right key clicked into the lock and turned, and he wasted no time kicking the door open and starting to run down the hallway. He grinned as he was able to activate his Hearing Magic for the first time in years, reveling in all of the sounds he’s been living without for so long. He turned a corner, stumbling a little bit as the building rocked again. He had a rough idea of where his other guildmates were being kept, or at least their prison numbers, and now it wasn’t going to be an issue at all to find them. And if he was right, the closest one was…

———

Yelling. Everyone was always yelling. Another explosion. Everything was so loud, why was everything so loud? 

Midnight buried their face into their knees, shaking hands covering their ears. The noise had been going on for hours now, and they had no idea what was going on outside their cell. None of the guards had stopped to bother with them, obviously not caring to risk their own lives to converse with a prisoner. 

Midnight knew this wasn’t the R-System, they knew that, but everything was so eerily reminiscent of how things were after the uprising that they couldn’t help but feel panic setting in. They just wanted to sleep… that was the one thing that made them feel at peace, why weren’t they allowed to do at least that…? 

“Oi Mid! Midnight!”

Their head shot up, eyes wide with disbelief. That voice… no it couldn’t be… could it…? “Erik...?” 

“Damn right! We’re getting the hell out of here!” Cobra slid to a halt in front of their cell, sounding out of breath like he’d been running. Midnight stared in shock, not fully comprehending that they were finally seeing Cobra again for the first time in seven years. He’d gotten slightly taller, his hair had grown out a bit and now the tips of his ears came up to a sharp point. And… his right eye was scarred over? Had that happened during the fight over Nirvana…? 

The lock clicked and the cell door creaked open, and before Midnight knew it they were being embraced by a pair of warm arms. They sat frozen, not knowing what to do about the sudden show of affection. It had been so, so long since the two of them had been this close to each other, long before the fight over Nirvana in fact. Before Brain had drilled into them that affection between any of them was a sign of weakness and wouldn’t be tolerated. 

“Your hair’s gotten long,” Cobra said softly, tightening the hug. 

Midnight felt tears prick the corner of their eyes, and they finally gave in and reciprocated the sudden but very much needed physical contact. “What’s going on?” they whispered, not trusting their voice enough to speak any louder. 

The building rattled once more, dropping a bit of debris onto them. Cobra sighed, pulling away and looking up at the ceiling. “Honestly… if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. I don’t fully believe it either, I’m gonna have to see it for myself once we get out there.” He stood back up, reaching a hand down to help pull Midnight to their feet. “C’mon, we gotta go get everyone else.” Midnight hesitated for just a second before grabbing it, letting Cobra pull them up towards him. 

Once they were standing at eye level they both looked at each other for a few moments, eyes roaming each other’s faces and taking in every new detail, every new feature. They stood like that for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly Cobra’s face turned red as he realized he was still holding Midnight’s hand, quickly letting go and stepping away in embarrassment. He cleared his throat. “We should be going,” he said, looking anywhere but Midnight’s face. 

Midnight blinked at the abrupt loss of contact, their hand feeling much colder without the added warmth. “Yeah.” 

The two of them ran back down the labyrinth of hallways, Cobra guiding them without even a bit of hesitation in his movements as if he’d committed the entire prison to memory. He seemed to have accepted the situation they were in fairly quickly and adapted, but Midnight was still reeling in disbelief. Seven years they’d all been locked up and kept from each other… it had honestly felt so much longer than that. But how long was their reunion going to last with the chaos outside…? 

“This hallway!” Cobra suddenly announced, making a sharp left turn. Midnight nearly tripped trying to follow him as the building shook once more. They looked up at the ceiling, anxious to discover what was happening outside. They kept hearing what sounded like roars, and they didn’t really want to think about it more than that. 

Cobra finally came to a stop, and Midnight followed suit, both trying to catch their breath. “Solano! Ready to ditch this shithole?” Cobra yelled with a grin, already moving to unlock the cell. 

“Erik, is that actually you? And Mid! How the hell did you manage to get out?” Angel asked excitedly, moving away from the wall and running up to the bars of her cell. “I’ve been screaming at guards for hours now and none would even give me the time of day.” 

“Got lucky,” Cobra replied vaguely, still grinning as he opened the cell and Angel launched herself at him in a hug that was more like a tackle. 

“Mid you get your ass over here too,” Angel said, grabbing Midnight’s sleeve and pulling them into the hug. “God I missed you guys so much, it’s been so damn long.” 

”Missed you too Sol,” Midnight said in a muffled voice, still not sure what to do with the sudden shows of affection from their guildmates. 

“Great... to see you too but… can’t… breathe…” Cobra choked, lightly slapping Angel’s arm to get her to let him go. 

Angel finally let the two of them go, a huge smile on her face and her eyes slightly watery. “Sorry,” she laughed, accompanied by a wink that said she clearly wasn’t. “Now is someone gonna tell me what’s happening?” 

“Long story, wait till we get out there,” Cobra huffed. “We just gotta go get Sawyer and Richard and then we’ll be on our way.” 

Midnight blinked slowly, looking at Cobra with a small frown. There was a name missing on that list… “What about Father? Where’s he being kept?” they asked. “We need to go free him too.”

Cobra froze in place, giving Midnight a look that they couldn’t quite decipher but made their heart sink in their chest. Another explosion rocked the building, but none of them budged. “Mid, he didn’t...” he started, gaze drifting to the side as he realized he couldn’t keep eye contact with them. He cleared his throat and tried again. “He didn’t care about us. We were only ever pawns to him. He would’ve replaced any of us in a second, even you. I  _ heard _ it Mid. That guy was never a father to us.”

Midnight stared at him for a few moments, trying to process those words. There’s no way it was a lie, Cobra would  _ never _ lie to them, he was the one person Midnight would always believe no matter the circumstance. But this was…

“I swear I’m not lyin’ to you Mid,  _ he shot me himself _ when I lost my fight back then.” Cobra gritted his teeth, looking back up at Midnight. “We’re leaving him here to rot, I ain’t breaking someone like that outta here. Any complaints?”

Midnight finally gave a small shake of their head. “If that’s what you heard then it’s true.” They still were having a hard time accepting that truth, but they saw the immediate relief that came over Cobra as they said that. 

“Well let’s go rescue the other two then,” Angel announced, swiping the keys from Cobra with a smirk. “Lead the way Mr. Super Hearing.”

Cobra sputtered and gave her an offended look, making a grab for the keys as she started walking away. “Oi! Never said you could take those!” 

Angel laughed, lightly brushing her hand over Midnight’s arm as she walked and giving them a quick glance that asked if they were okay. Midnight nodded slightly in response, giving an almost-smile as she dodged Cobra’s attempts to recover the keys she stole from him. “Gonna have to try harder than that Erik!”

“Damn it Solano! Fine, you can hang on to them just don’t lose them!” Cobra groaned, looking around. “Sawyer and Richard should be close by, shouldn’t take us long to get to them.” He glanced back at Midnight, seeming to want a second confirmation that this was going to be okay by them. Midnight nodded again, this time the corner of their mouth pulling into a slight smile. Cobra smiled softly back before looking forward again and starting to lead them to their next stop. 

It was definitely a shorter run this time, which Midnight was grateful for because physical stamina was never their forte and they were wearing out pretty fast. 

“Sawyer~! Guess who?” Angel yelled as she approached his cell, twirling the keys around her finger. “Your favorite guildmate has come to break you out!” 

“Maybe we should’ve just left her,” Cobra grumbled, rolling his eye. “Or at least left her for last.” Midnight saw him smile though as Racer received another tackle hug from Angel despite his protests. 

Midnight watched their guildmates, and despite the situation everything felt so warm. It was so, so warm. It was then that they realized there was something they had to do before they all left this place. There was one final thing they had to make sure of, for their sake and their guild’s sake. 

Midnight took a few steps back, and refracted the light around them to appear invisible. They had a pretty good idea of the prison layout by now, so it shouldn’t take them too long to find him… shouldn’t be that far away either. 

——

“Hey it’s great to see you guys and all but care explaining what the hell is happening?” Racer asked, still caught up in what was almost a chokehold from Angel. “It’s been absolute chaos over here for hours now.” 

“Too hard to explain,” Cobra said gruffly, rubbing the back of his head. “First priority is getting us all the hell out of here.” 

“Or maybe Erik’s just lazy and doesn’t feel like explaining.” Angel smirked at him as she finally let go of Racer. “I’m sure that-“ she trailed off, smirk falling from her face. 

“What?” Cobra asked, annoyed. 

Racer looked over too. “Uh, wasn’t Mid with you?”

Cobra felt an immediate spike of panic, looking behind him where Midnight had originally been standing. “Mid! Where’d you go?” he yelled down the hallway, trying to pick up any hints of where they were with his hearing. It was extremely difficult to pick out anything through all the noise. 

“You… don’t think that…?” Angel and Cobra exchanged worried looks. 

“Think that what? What’s going on?” Racer asked, stretching his arms over his head. “You’re all being so damn cryptic.” 

Cobra took a deep breath, glancing back out to the labyrinth of hallways. “...I’m sure it’ll be fine, I trust Mid to not do anything stupid. They wouldn’t do anything reckless.” 

“Yeah alright just ignore me, ya jerk,” Racer grumbled, Angel giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. 

“Should we just move on then and get Richard so we can ditch this joint?” Angel asked, tossing the keys lightly into the air. “I’m sick of being cooped up here.” 

Cobra was silent for a few seconds, still staring the other way. “...yeah, that’s probably the best thing to do.” He was beyond frustrated that he still hadn’t been able to figure out where Midnight was in the building. He knew that Angel was probably right about where they were headed, and there was a part of him that was still worried, but they needed to keep moving. He looked back at the others. “Sawyer, I can give you directions so you can go ahead of us with the keys, that way we can get out of here faster.” 

“Thought you’d never ask,” Racer grinned, Angel sticking her tongue out at Cobra as she begrudgingly handed over the keys. “Been itching to run. Just point me in the right direction and we’ll be back before you know it.” 

Cobra gave him the directions, and he was gone before either of them could blink. He sighed loudly. “Guess we’ll head after him and meet them halfway, let’s go.”

Angel hummed, giving him a light knock on the head with the back of her fist as they started walking. “Mid’s probably just going to get closure, they’ll be back before any of us know it. Don’t worry yourself to death.”

Cobra looked over at her, smirking slightly as he bumped his shoulder into hers. “Yeah, I know.” 

——

Midnight finally came to a stop, releasing their invisible barrier. This was an extremely secluded part of the prison, and there were hardly any occupied cells in this area. They stared at the cell at the end of the hall, not even flinching as the building shook. They let out a deep breath, bracing theirself as they walked forward. 

“Oh? Midnight, I thought that was you. Great work escaping during this chaos.”

“Father,” Midnight said shortly, stopping in front of the cell. 

Brain grinned. He was chained to the wall, Sealstone adorning his arms as an extra level of protection on top of the Sealstone covering the walls. “You’ve always been so much more promising than the others, I knew you’d get out eventually. Now just let me out of here and we can build a stronger guild together, and we won’t lose to those damn light guilds again.” 

Midnight narrowed their eyes. There wasn’t any genuine warmth behind his words. Now that they knew what they did, they could finally feel how cold and unfeeling the shallow praises were. Brain never cared about them. About any of them. It was all just an elaborate ruse to control them. Midnight’s eye twitched, magic flaring up. They weren’t going to risk the chance of him or Zero hurting any of their guildmates ever again. The others were so warm, and they felt like family, and now that Midnight was able to feel that again they were going to do everything they could to protect them. 

One flick of the wrist and it was over. A single invisible blade against the throat. No more lies would ever spill from his mouth again. “Sleep well, Father…” 

Midnight turned away from the cell, staring at the floor and trying to quiet the small part of theirself that was crying out that they’d done the wrong thing. This was for the best. They weren’t going to be controlled anymore, and they were going to have their freedom. They looked up, beginning to make their way back to the others. This was for the best. 

——-

Cobra slowed his pace as he heard familiar footsteps approaching, and he quickly glanced over to see Midnight coming back towards them. They looked… tired. Tired, and maybe a little angry? They weren’t the most expressive person so it was hard for him to tell what was going on with them sometimes. “Everything okay Mid?” he asked, jolting them out of the trance they seemed to be in. 

Midnight gazed at him for a few moments, and Cobra could see the emotions swirling in their crimson eyes. Finally they gave a small smile, the most genuine smile he had seen from them in so, so long. “Yeah. Everything’s fine now.” 

Cobra felt a blush creep up his face again, and he could see Angel giving him a mischievous look out of the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything to try and dispel the awkwardness he was feeling, another two pairs of familiar footsteps made their way towards them. 

“Looks like the gang’s back together!” Racer announced as him and Hoteye approached. Before Cobra could say anything Hoteye was dragging him and the rest of his guildmates into a very tight group hug, all of them having the wind knocked out of them at the sudden motion. 

“I’m so glad you’re all okay!” Hoteye cried, squeezing them all in a bit tighter. “It’s been so long, my friends!” 

The hug was too tight, and definitely a little uncomfortable, but Cobra felt like everything was at least a little perfect in that moment. The five of them were reunited, as they should be, without anybody telling them this was wrong. Despite what was happening outside the walls of the prison, they were free for the first time in their entire lives. Truly free. They didn’t owe anything to anyone, and they could go wherever they wanted. 

Hoteye finally released the four of them and they all gasped for breath for a few seconds. There was another explosion, this one closer than all the others and they all stumbled to keep their balance. Cobra glanced up at the ceiling, not exactly ready to face the reality of what was going on. He let out a small cough, standing up straight and looking around at his guildmates. “Ready to head out?” 

They all had mixed expressions on their faces. They were excited to finally be getting out of this godforsaken prison, but not sure if they were prepared. Cobra started leading the way, the rest following after him. There was a somber silence among them as they all braced themselves for what was to come. 

The exit to the prison came up faster than Cobra anticipated, and they all stopped for a few moments to look at each other. There was more silence among them, mixed with increasing nervousness. “Ready?” Cobra asked once more, even though he knew none of them were. They all nodded despite that. Cobra took a deep breath, and led them outside to their new reality. 

July 7, X791. 

A swarm of more than 10,000 dragons attacked the country. Cities were burned down, and many lives were lost. Not even 10% of the current human population survived. Dragons now rule the world. 


End file.
